Welfare Reform: America’s Next Big Challenge

As of the first quarter of 2018, the U. S. economy is strong and rapidly accelerating. The stock market is at record highs and the unemployment rate is at a 17-year low. This is thanks largely to the administration’s aggressive regulatory reforms and the passage of historic tax cuts. Business-after-business is celebrating the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act by announcing new investments, bonuses, and pay raises.

But despite soaring business confidence and a strong economy, businesses are scrambling to find workers to fill 6 million open jobs. And now, their primary challenge is to get people who have been sitting on the sidelines back to work. That’s why we’ve been talking so much about the Labor Force Participation rate over the past decade.

Unfortunately, our broken welfare system is a major barrier to achieving this goal. That’s why the President has vowed to tackle welfare reform next. We can’t afford to wait because welfare definitely is “out of control.”

Consider the facts.

In 2000, over 17 million Americans received food stamps, officially known as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) benefits. Since then, that number has swelled to more than 42 million. As a result of the Obama Administration’s policies, the number of Americans on food stamps is now greater than the entire population of Canada!